Tippling with your teens

Should parents teach their kids to drink responsibly by drinking with them?  Does a high legal drinking age in the US encourage or discourage teenage drinking?  How do your parents handle this problem?  How would you (as a parent) handle it?  Is alcohol more socially acceptable than it should be, given its negative effects on health and society?  What are some of the differences in attitudes between Slovakia and other  countries on this issue?  The comments on this article are also rather enlightening so you can read and refer to them as well.

What the world needs now is more losers like these guys

Wow.  There are really a lot of interesting issues covered in this short article.  The writer argues that Russia and South Africa would be worse off today without the wise actions of their former rulers.  Do you agree?  Do "good losers" deserve more honor than they get?  Does loosening the reins in a reform often lead to a regime change?  Is a gradual change better than a radical one?

Both figures are celebrating birthdays, and Gorbachev has created a prize for those who change the world like he has.  (You can follow the link below to read more about it.) How much credit do you think Gorbachev (or de Klerk for that matter) deserves for making these changes possible?

 http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE72A72120110311

Setting your sights on the ivy league

Is there too much competition to get into university these days?  Do wealthy parents, who can afford counselors like this, have an unfair advantage?  Does this process encourage naked ambition and hypocrisy?   Are there more worthy goals which high school students should be working towards instead?  Is a degree from an ivy league (or any top-notch) school really the be-all and end-all?

Slovakia at the top of the EU (in terms of trusting it)

It seems to me that this article comes up with certain reasons for why Slovaks answered the survey the way they did, but ignores other possible reasons.  For example, it says that Slovaks trust the EU because they don’t trust their own government.  But maybe it’s just because they don’t know much about the EU or because they don’t think critically about it.  I am sure there are other explanations as well.  Also, at the end of the article, it notes that Slovaks are in favor of enlarging the EU, but not of including Albania, Turkey or Kosovo because of their weak economies.  Surely cultural reasons (some people might call it "Islamophobia") also played at least a minor role.  Is the Spectator turning a blind eye to this?  Focus your response on the survey results and the article’s interpretation of them, but you can also say how you would have responded to the survey’s questions and why.

Can too much money ruin your life?

How much do you think happiness has to do with money?  Does it vary from culture to culture?  Does it depend on your personality?  Like the writer of this article, are you skeptical of the study’s results because of the source of its funding?  Does it convince you that being rich is not all it’s cracked up to be?

Six years old and stuck to his iPad

Lots of articles on parenting this time.  I got this one from Ondrej.  It’s the last one you can comment on for the second half of March.

What do you think of this parent’s strategies?  What kind of strategies did your parents use to make sure you did not spend too much time watching TV or surfing the net?  Is interactive technology less harmful? Is it possible to have too much of a good thing, and when do you know when that limit has been passed?  What is a normal age for children to be introduced to this kind of technology?    Looking at some of the comments on this blog may also be helpful.  Feel free to make reference to them.

Blackout Sabbath

This article is ostensibly about the national day of unplugging, which actually starts midnight tonight, so it’s not too late to participate.  Basically, it’s an update on the Jewish day of rest, this time with no use of modern technology (and also of course, open to non-Jews).  Is it a good idea?  Will it catch on?  Would you be able to live without gadgets for 24 hours?

Looking at the larger theme of the article, how is technology related to spirituality?  How can it help or hinder our search for meaning and happiness?

The janegirl

We have a name for the opposite phenomenon, the tomboy, but not for this.  Why are boyish girls more accepted than girlish boys?  You can comment on the homosexuality issue raised in this article if you wish, but I would be more interested in hearing what parents should do in terms of helping their children conform to gender expectations and be accepted by society, versus allowing them the freedom to enjoy their interests and be themselves.  Do you think this mother is handling the situation well?  What about our role as a society/culture in terms of enforcing or working against these expectations?

When is balanced reporting inaccurate?

Here is an item tackling global climate change and, more specifically, how the media deals with this issue.  When does an effort to be impartial and give both sides a chance to talk turn into misinformation about an issue?  If the vast majority of scientists believe that global warming is happening and that it is caused by human activity, but some people (and a few scientists) disagree,  what should the media’s role be?  Do you agree with this writer?

Sports and fighting

A major hockey player may have had brain injuries because of his tendency to brawl.  What do you think about the culture of hockey and its encouragement of fighting on the ice (or at least turning a blind eye to this more than other sports do)?  Or perhaps all sports encourage violence in some way.  Can anything be done about this?  Should anything be done?   Make sure you read both pages.

Not a natural mother

This is an article about how a mother decided to give up custody of her kids after divorce (and is catching some flack for it).  What does her act say about the motherhood instinct which women supposedly have?   As gender roles change, do you think this will become more common?  Is this mother irresponsible for having children in the first place and for now leaving her ex-husband to do the difficult work, while she pursues her career, makes friendly visits and takes the kids on fun outings?  Or is she to be admired for doing what she thinks is the best thing for her and her children, in spite of society’s expectations?

A scholarship for that poor oppressed minority, the white male

This is the last item you can comment on for the first half of March.

Do you agree with the author that this seems to be just a publicity stunt?  Does giving advantages to minorities in employment and education just lead to this sort of silliness?  Does reverse racism even exist?  In other words, is it possible to be discriminated against as a member of the dominant group which has at least historically held power and wielded it over others?  Or is this just a symptom of the common human weakness that everyone wants to be seen (and to see him/herself) as a victim and not as part of the problem?